BYOD Hits Health Care and Uncle Sam Drops the Mobile Security Ball

This week health and IT sectors merged with nurses using mobile devices more and more on the job, a clear indication of the growth of #mHealth. A survey of about 2500 nurses found that 65 percent use mobile devices at work every day. These nurses reported using their smartphones for professional services for a minimum of 30 minutes and up to two or more hours a day.

Other findings suggest that nurses are using social media to address healthcare related issues as well. Appthority recently weighed in on the importance of mobile health security with over 43,000 health-related apps on the market. Many of these apps are still not secure and are susceptible to data breaches, hacks, and other potentially risky behaviors.

Mobile health technology is still new and with its rapid evolution have come growing pains that need to be worked out. Additionally, many hospitals have not installed official policies addressing mobile data in the workplace. Health care remains an industry where digital technology has the potential to transform many of its current practices and protocols and well-crafted mobile policies and security systems must be in place. This is, of course, especially important when dealing with patient data such as social security numbers, financial statistics, and confidential health records.

Another sector where the ripple effects of BYOD are being felt is in the federal government. With recent iCloud hacks galore releasing photos without permission, government agencies have become very worried about mobile data when it comes to storing confidential information in the cloud. For example, a recent study from the Ponemon Institute revealed that 63 percent of government IT managers said there is a high likelihood that employees move business information to locations like Dropbox or Box without the knowledge or consent of the agency. Mobile-to-cloud security becomes even more important in the federal space, where a leaked risqué picture would be the least of the concerns.

Appthority’s enterprise grade solution offers deep visibility into what apps employees have on their mobile devices and what risks are present in these apps, while also enabling customized policies that protect sensitive company data from app behaviors that may put it at-risk – a critical consideration regardless of industry.

Thoughts or comments about rising BYOD sectors? Reach the Appthority team on Twitter at @Appthority.